Germany remains committed to bolstering its military strength, increasing defense spending, and initiating the largest purchase of main battle tanks and other armored vehicles. The German-language newspaper Handelsblatt first reported that Berlin is exploring the acquisition of up to 1,000 Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks, along with 2,500 Boxer wheeled armored vehicles and several hundred Puma infantry fighting vehicles.

Bloomberg, citing German sources, valued the proposed deal at 25 billion euros ($29 billion). The vehicles would be used to equip up to seven new brigades that Berlin had pledged to form. The units would be part of NATO’s force generation initiative.

Berlin had dramatically scaled back its defense spending after the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, it is now assuming a far greater role in NATO’s defense—including a permanent deployment of military personnel and armored vehicles to Lithuania, the first such forward positioning of its soldiers on foreign soil since World War II.

“Germany’s military doctrine has historically........

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